I’m obsessed with whale poop: ‘It can be neon green, bright red – or even sparkle’

It may be colourful but if it gets on your clothes you have to throw them away, says biologist Dr Joe Roman, who can’t get enough of the stuff, which is vital to support ocean biodiversity

I first encountered whale poop 30 years ago while I was working on a right whale research project. On one of my first days on the water, in the Bay of Fundy, in eastern Canada, we came upon a feeding male right whale with mud on its head – or bonnet – a sign that it had been feeding at the bottom of the bay. It had come up to breathe and rest.

Just before it dived in again, it released this enormous faecal plume.